1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to telecommunications and more specifically to call centers. Communication sessions can exist in a variety of modes such as telephone calls, communication sessions, instant messaging sessions, email sessions, video conference sessions, multi-media sessions, and the like.
2. Introduction
Touchtone telephones have been supplemented over the years by the addition of feature buttons and menus. Interfaces for these features have evolved from simple buttons to hierarchical menus actuated by trackballs, quadrant style pointers, and the like. As the number of features increases, the interfaces add more buttons, sequences, and/or combination of button presses. This proliferation of features has led to a multitude of different interfaces with varying levels of complexity. Often users resort to rote memorization of key features, but that is not always practical or desirable. Recently, smartphones with touch-sensitive displays have begun to provide similar functionality. However, the touch-sensitive displays in such devices typically reproduce the feature buttons and menus, albeit on a touch-sensitive display.
Further, users are migrating to other communication forms, such as text messaging, instant messaging, email, chat sessions, video conferencing, and so forth. Incorporating the ability to handle these modes of communication into a traditional telephone increases the complexity and difficulty manyfold.
The specific application of call centers presents a host of application-specific problems, such as high turnover, demand for shorter call times in order to service more customers more efficiently, potentially lower education levels of call center employees, and so forth. Further, call center agents perform many communications operations such as placing customers on hold, performing telephone transfers, conferring with subject matter experts and manager, escalating calls, and so forth. The number, type, and complexity of these operations present a serious difficulty to call center employees, trainers, and managers. What is needed in the art is a more intuitive communication management interface.